Realization
by HushedSilence
Summary: Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire contemplate why BB's "Beast Within" made an appearance in their most recent battle. Hints of BBXRae and StarXRobin


**I started this a while back and I had recently finished it after working on it today and yesterday. It just goes to show that I write at the pace of a snail. :/ **

**I have a bunch of plot bunnies for Teen Titans. :) Hopefully school won't get too hectic and I'll be able to write a few of them for you guys. **

**I tried having parts of this in the point of view from Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire (in third person). It was new to me, and I kind of like it. Can you let me know what you guys think by commenting? ****My favorite part personally was Robin's battle scene part. Let me know if I made Starfire too oblivious and stupid. :P **

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><p>"C'mon, Raven!" Beast Boy called to his teammate. "Just one game of Stankball with me and Cy! Please?"<p>

Cyborg stood next to his best friend. He initially told Beast Boy to leave Raven alone and keep it a one-on-one, so as to not disturb Raven, but it still did not stop Beast Boy. Instead, he had boldly walked up to the door leading to her room and knocked. Cyborg then sighed and patiently waited for the inevitable rejection from Raven. Stankball was obviously not one of her favorite past times. The only time he remembered playing Stankball with her was after the Malchior incident. It was more of a guy thing, really. For some reason, though, Beast Boy had always asked Raven if she wanted to tag along. Sure, he invited Robin and Starfire every once in a while, but none of his attempts to add players to the game were as consistent. By now it had been a routine, Cyborg realized.

The half-man, half-machine noticed Raven had been opening up more recently. Obviously, it was not so much that it would be deemed out of character. A few differences did pop up here and there, however. The girl had gradually begun to partake in dinner conversations and join the group in the living room for an occasional stupid movie suggested by Beast Boy. Considering the way she acted before, this was a big improvement.

Perhaps this was what motivated the changeling to invite her to their game of Stankball. The rest of the Teen Titans, especially a certain green-haired fellow, had all separately decided to help Raven open up to the group. Their efforts were finally paying off. Every once in a while Raven would relent and join the group in social activities. That day was not one of those times, though.

The magic user had answered the door and refused the proposal, as expected. It seemed they had disturbed her at the wrong time, since she was obviously busy reading the book in her hand. Her signature hood was up, Cyborg noticed, hiding her calm, gray face.

"Thanks, but I'll pass," the girl from Azarath repeated to the shapeshifter while closing her door. Raven had almost escaped into her dark room, but Beast Boy stuck his foot in between the door and door frame.

"Please!" The boy repeated. "You know you can't resist the face! Nobody can resist the face!" He turned into a cute kitten immediately afterwards, in a last-ditch effort to convince her otherwise. His huge eyes twinkled while his face pouted-a deadly combination when used by the right person, in Beast Boy's opinion. Cyborg could have sworn he saw a tiny tear coming out of the kitten's eye.

The two boys flinched. Raven had responded with a door slammed in Beast Boys face.

Cyborg held back a laugh as the green superhero reverted to his original human form. Failure for his little friend was a normal occurrence. "Crud."

Cyborg put a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, man. This just ain't her thing." Just then, the alarm system went off, signalling trouble in Jump City.

"Double Crud."

The Teen Titans instinctively ran to Robin, the leader of the group, who was right by their huge TV looking at what they were about to face on the computer screen.

"There's trouble downtown!" Robin yelled to his team the second the alarm sounded in the tower.

* * *

><p>The Teen Titans arrived in front of the Jump City Bank. That place was always getting robbed, so Robin couldn't really say he was surprised. Places like that gave Robin a sense of job security. Crime in Jump City was not going <em>anywhere.<em>

The culprits that day weren't particularly shocking, either. The H.I.V.E. Five (who's name was now accurate, since Jynx left) was always causing trouble, even back in the day when his team first formed and the opposing group consisted of only Jynx, Mammoth, and Gizmo. The remaining members, five males, had left most of the "thinking" to their former leader, Jynx, and struggled with having successful robberies since they-for lack of a better term- were a bunch of imbeciles.

Nevertheless, Robin refused to let his guard down in front of any opponent. Even relaxing for a slight second in a situation like this could cause his downfall if he wasn't careful. The leader reminded his team to never underestimate any villain. You never know when they have something new up their sleeve.

They had made a typical H.I.V.E. Five entrance: knocking down a huge wall in the loudest way possible, assuring their detection and instantly setting off alarms in the process. See-More somewhat questioned this tactic, but kept his mouth shut for the sake of his safety. The wall-smashing was Mammoth's _favorite_ part, after all.

By the time the Teen Titans arrived, See-More and Kyd Wykkyd were holding the innocent citizens in the bank hostage while the other three ransacked the place for everything they had. They were almost completely done since Billy Numerous had dozens of other Billies helping them out.

"Titans! Go!" Robin screamed his catchphrase, signaling the beginning of the battle. The Titans all jumped into action to take control over the situation. Robin and Starfire ran to fight See-More and Kyd Wykkyd while the other three headed towards the rest of the H.I.V.E. Five.

Without Jynx, Robin and Cyborg realized, the H.I.V.E. Five weren't as big of a threat as they were before. Robin and Starfire had their opponents tied up in under 10 minutes, much to the pleasure of the innocent crowd inside the Jump City Bank. Many sighed in relief and others thanked the Teen Titans and began cheering.

Robin glanced towards the exit and saw Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy still in the middle of their battle.

Cyborg used his sonic cannon in an attempt to shoot down Mammoth. Since Mammoth was somehow able to dodge these, he shot holes through the surrounding walls instead. Cyborg's attacks did more harm than good. He decided to fight with raw strength when he saw Mammoth charging at him on his right. He put away his cannon and it turned back into a hand. Bracing for impact, Cyborg firmly planted his left foot behind him and held his arms out, ready to take Mammoth's tackle. Their fingers intertwined. Each was trying to push harder than the other and push them onto the ground. If he did succeed, Mammoth would be vulnerable and Cyborg would be able to finish it off with a sonic cannon.

Robin looked in another direction to see Beast Boy and Raven standing back-to-back in an attempt to fight off Gizmo and a dozen Billy Numerous-es. Beast Boy was transformed into a kangaroo and fighting off the Billies by kicking them with his powerful legs. Behind him, dark energy emitted from Raven's hand and formed a shield to cover them from the bullets being fired from the device on Gizmo's back. The little boy laughed maniacally and muttered, "Take that, you pieces of crud!" Robin could see Raven was getting annoyed with her current situation: Gizmo was barking with laughter and annoying people like usual while all of the Billy Numerous-es kept talking and would not shut up. He found it amusing that Beast Boy was not doing anything to annoy her this time.

After hearing a large crash, Robin turned his head to see the other battle finishing up. Mammoth was knocked out on the middle of the floor and Cyborg was standing triumphantly next to him with one foot on Mammoth's chest. When he noticed Robin watching, Cyborg put both of his thumbs up while smiling and shouting, "Boo-yah!"

Robin smirked back and yelled, "Nice job! Watch over the rest of these guys, Cy." Cyborg nodded and proceeded to drag Mammoth's unconscious body across the room. "Starfire! Come with me!" He called. The two of them ran to help Beast Boy and Raven, who were clearly outnumbered.

Robin used his array of weapons to help fight off a bunch of Billy Numerous-es. Starfire's eyes glowed a bright green as she began firing starbolts at the enemy.

Raven saw Gizmo shoot a small rocket from his electronic backpack and noticed it was headed straight for Beast Boy. She reacted quickly and pushed him out of the way. Beast Boy, though initially confused, eventually recognized Raven's good deed and thanked her. They resumed their battle and continued watching each other's backs.

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven noticed Gizmo making a run for it with a huge bag of cash in his hands. He was covering ground fast using that electronic backpack of his, which gave him wings. Robin saw him leave but was in the middle of a fight with four Billy Numerous-es. He and Raven made eye contact and exchanged a few silent words which ended in Robin nodding in approval while punching a Billy in the face. Without giving it a second thought, Raven stopped what she was doing and flew off to follow him. He wasn't going to get away that easily.

The rest of the group noticed her leave, but couldn't follow her right away because of the overflowing amount of Billies. They were getting incredibly annoyed.

"Hee-hah!"

"Hey, watch out Billy!"

"Thanks, Billy! I owe you one!"

"No prob-"

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt, right Billy?"

"Yup, Yup, Yup."

They were at their breaking point. Robin's entire head was pounding, and he couldn't stand it anymore. He just wanted to end it as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>It took a while, but Billy and all of his buddies were defeated. Starfire was concerned for her dear friend Raven and wanted to get to her as soon as possible. Robin had to wait until the police came to pick up the criminals.<p>

"I can't believe she just took off like that!" Beast Boy exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. "She didn't even go with any back-up!"

"She'll be fine, Beast boy. You don't have to worry about it." Robin assured. His words had eased Starfire-he tended to do that a lot-but not Beast Boy.

"Yes, friends!" Starfire proclaimed. "Raven can take on and harthorn garbag!" She noticed her Tameranian terminology had confused her listeners and gave a half-smile.

Starfire noticed the green changeling morphed into a wrinkly dog with long, droopy ears. Starfire had seen a show about dogs on the television once, but she couldn't remember what kind of dog it was. After sniffing for a few seconds, Beast Boy shifted back into his normal self. She was moderately surprised when she saw Beast Boy the first one out the door in the form of a cheetah. She did hear Beast Boy explain his sudden departure to Robin and Cyborg, but it was still sort of unexpected.

After telling her friends she would catch up with Raven and Beast Boy, Starfire flew in the same direction the little green guy went in. She assumed Beast Boy knew where she was because of a scent he picked up. She was fairly sure Robin told her about a dog's keen sense of smell at some point. Or perhaps that was a cat? She wasn't entirely sure.

Starfire found her friends with Gizmo in the middle of a construction site. Large mounds of dirt surrounded a partially built building and some machines used for construction. It was certainly a sight to see for Starfire, who had never seen how a building was actually made. Her eyes twinkled at the amazing view.

She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. Robin wouldn't be happy if he knew she was zoning out in a battle. Upon closer inspection, Raven and Gizmo were fighting inside the building being made on that piece of land. It was like one of those things that children played on. She believed it was called a "jungle gym," but the name did not really fit something like that.

Gizmo and Raven were flying in a bunch of random directions, with Gizmo in the lead and Raven following behind. Beast Boy had reverted to his original state and began running toward them.

Raven's eyes flickered to Beast Boy and Starfire for the slightest second, but that second was all Gizmo needed. That game of tag they had been playing was all a trap. He rigged explosives all around the wooden support beams around them. When he pressed the button, the entire building went down. He made sure he was close enough to the outside to make it out alive, but Raven was deeper inside the building than he was.

"Hehe! Take that, dweeb!" Gizmo shouted as he flew off.

She gasped. After wondering what to do, Starfire decided to chase after the little boy in green spandex in an attempt to retrieve the stolen money. She could only hope that Beast Boy could save her dear friend and for the other two to arrive quickly.

* * *

><p>They learned later that Starfire had caught Gizmo. The H.I.V.E. Five wouldn't be bothering them again for a while. Thankfully, the five Teen Titans managed to get back to the Tower in one piece.<p>

The teens eventually went back into their usual routine: Raven was in her room, Beast Boy was flipping through channels on the TV, Cyborg was in the kitchen, and Robin and Starfire were talking together at the kitchen table.

Though they were all off doing separate activities, the same event was in their minds. They were still thinking about what happened when the explosives went off earlier before.

**Flashback:**

_"Raven!" Beast Boy shouted as he heard the bombs exploding. She could be hurt! Scratch that, she definitely was hurt. He had to do something! Star had gone off to catch Gizmo, so it was his job to save his teammate. _

_Without a second thought, Beast Boy transformed into the Beast. Yes, that's right: the Beast. The very thing that most of the Titans thought had hurt Raven when he was first exposed to that radioactive goo. He didn't think about it; it just happened. _

_He instantly grew twice his size, causing parts of his uniform to be torn off. The Beast roared, screaming into the sky, and then charged toward the building using all four of his limbs. His claws dug into the dirt. His fur was rustling from the wind. His face had a permanent frown, but then again, it always was when he was in that form._

_The Beast jumped into the rubble in search of Raven. Most of the building had already collapsed and she was probably unconscious. He hoped that she wasn't under anything that was on fire. The last thing she needed was to be burnt, too. _

_Thankfully, the Beast had found Raven. He grabbed her hood with her sharp teeth and moved her farther away from the burning pile of debris. The Beast placed her carefully on the floor and looked over her once to see if she was badly injured. __Her whole body was going to ache later and there was a burn on her left leg. __She had been knocked out, as he had predicted, but she was probably going to be okay. _

_Part of him wanted to go search for Gizmo and punish him for what he did. He let an intimidating growl escape his lips by just thinking about it. However, he began feeling tired. Beast Boy assumed it was the adrenaline rush finally fading away. _

_Robin and Cyborg had arrived just in time to see Beast boy reverting back to his human self. Beast boy nearly toppled over from exhaustion. _

**End Flashback **

Raven spent some time in the infirmary afterwards, but she recovered fairly quickly thanks to her healing powers. Her friends were all glad to see her feel better.

It was getting late. Beast Boy dozed off on the couch. Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg were playing cards at the kitchen table together and each partook in their normal banter during their game of BS.

The game was quite simple, really. The group of people playing were each dealt their own cards and they had to place the required card face down on the pile in the middle. It started with the Ace of Spades and gradually climbed up to 2, 3, 4, and so on. If a player didn't have the necessary card, they simply lied and put another card down. If someone decided to say "BS" though, they would have to take the entire pile and start losing cards all over again.

Robin, who had 6 cards left, smirked and said, "one five," in a confident tone while placing a card face down. On his left was Cyborg, who cast a sneaky sideways glance at the other two players before saying, "two sixes." Starfire was up next. She bit her lip and frowned in frustration. She had no sevens! She dis not like lying to her friends, but she had to because the rules said so. Starfire could not understand how humans found this enjoyable. She stuttered, "One s-s-seven."

Cyborg and Robin each raised an eyebrow before saying "BS, Starfire," in unison. Starfire sighed and grabbed the large pile in the middle of the table, increasing her card count by almost two dozen. Her chances of winning were not very high.

"I find this game most frustrating." Starfire commented. "Wouldn't it be more favorable to do something else instead, friends?"

"Uh... sure, Star," Robin agreed, putting his cards down in front of him. Cyborg followed suit, albeit a bit frustrated since he was finally catching up to the Boy Wonder. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm not completely sure, Robin." Starfire replied. "The only thing inside my mind is the events that took place earlier today at the 'construction sight.' "

"I was thinkin' about that, too, Star," Cyborg said, scratching his head. "I can't believe that Beast showed up out of nowhere again. I thought we were done with that a while ago."

"Same here," Robin announced, stroking his chin with his gloved right hand. "I wonder why Beast Boy changed into it again after all this time."

"It makes my mind boggled."

"It boggles your mind, Star," Robin corrected.

Starfire nodded. "That, too."

Cyborg and Robin sweat-dropped, but let the comment slide.

"Man, that thing still kind of freaks me out." Cyborg confided, their card game long forgotten. "It was able to toss us aside like we were nothing."

"Then there is the fact that we once thought he had..." Starfire drifted off, not able to finish the sentence. They all knew they didn't like it because of the Raven-incident.

"... Yeah." Robin awkwardly admitted. "I know what you mean." He still felt a bit guilty for turning on Beast Boy so quickly. His frustration and protective instinct over Raven, his teammate and friend, got the best of him that day.

"Thank God he was saving Raven instead."

Robin and Starfire agreed with Cyborg's statement.

"That was the last time we ever saw the Beast again, I believe." Starfire thought out loud.

"Nope," Cyborg differed.

"Huh?" The confused Starfire questioned. "I don't recall any other time, Cyborg. What are you talking about?"

"I saw the Beast come out when we were protecting Raven that time Trigon almost took over the world. It surprised me, really."

"What?" Starfire asked. "So he's changed into that Beast three times-that we _know_ of?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Starfire." Robin quietly said, thinking. "Whenever we _do_ see the Beast, it's because Beast Boy has a good reason."

"Whataya mean, Robin?" Cyborg asked.

"Haven't you noticed?" The two Titans shaking their head told him other wise.

"What is the common factor in all three of these incidents?" The Boy Wonder questioned his teammates. He should have noticed it sooner.

"Beast Boy?" Cyborg face-palmed at Starfire's answer.

"Besides that, Starfire." Robin clarified. Starfire smiled sheepishly and reddened from embarrassment.

"It's Raven." Robin said.

Cyborg snapped his fingers as a lightbulb went off above his head. "Of course! How could I have missed that."

"Friend Raven?"

"Yeah," Robin verified. "The only times the Beast ever came out was when Raven was in serious trouble and his normal capabilities weren't enough. We have been in sticky situations before, but the Beast only comes out when Raven's the only one involved. I wonder why he cares for Raven so much, though..."

Eyebrows raised, Cyborg and Robin exchanged weird glances with each other. "You don't think..." Robin started, but never finished.

"... Nah." Cyborg said, not believing what his friend was implying. Starfire, oblivious to their silent conversation, could not understand what Robin was trying to get at.

"I guess not." Robin conceded, though still suspicious.


End file.
